Dominating the PL but never won back to back league titles?
Not entirely sure that the two are strictly compatible
2 Likes
Going undefeated yes and we would of won back to back if Chelsea weren’t doing the equivilent of spending a billion today.
Or…
He would Play Marcelo and Carvajal at CB, bench Ronaldo and persist with a random system built around a random pkayer like Casemiro.
As he has been known to do.
I can insert this scenario for the players of any big money club tbh.
Would we? We didn’t manage it before that so I wouldn’t be so certain.
Also, that’s pure speculation and does nothing to really support your statement that Wenger was dominating the PL. He clearly dominated in individual seasons like 01/02 and 03/04 but that’s subtly different in my opinion.
Well yea because we got the most points out of all of the none financially doped teams.
Either way he was doing this going up against bigger spending rivals. United left us for dead in the transfer market. Even Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds were outspending us back then.
Now imagine if Wenger was given the biggest checkbook year on year, which is what he would of happened at United. Also imagine where we’d be if Wenger left us circa '02 and after we undertook Project Profits.
Most on here who are frustrated don’t or refuse to see that; had Wenger gone to Madrid, united, PSG when they wanted him; quite possibley had assembled some of the best teams with bottomless funds that would make FM players blush.
Without a financially doped Chelsea United would have got probably got Robben, one of 04/05’s standout players. He might have got a few others that made Chelsea great, after all you keep making a point of their power in the transfer market, but who knows? IMO it’s very simplistic to just remove Chelsea and assume that nothing else at all would have changed and everyone else would end up with the same points totals they got anyway.
For what it’s worth, I think we probably would have won the league in that season, but I don’t think you can state it as if it is a fact that we would have and then use that assumption to justify saying that Wenger dominated the PL.
I don’t want to get into a tit for tat argument with you here anyway, which I think is what is starting to happen. I think you make some good points and argue your case well, I just don’t entirely agree with you 
1 Like
Do you genuinely believe that the players and backroom staff have a chance just because Wenger says so?
Let’s not completely underestimate their intelligence. If we, the uninformed, uneducated (football-wise) punters aren’t buying this diplomatic buzzword bullshit, I highly doubt the players and backroom staff are either.
1 Like
Wenger never dominated the PL. Before the stadium move in 2006 he’d been at Arsenal for 9 seasons, winning the title three times.
I’m struggling to see where his domination was.
1 Like
So it’s only down to our board not wanting to splash the cash? I thought Wenger decided which players to sign 
Tbf a lot of the things that we hear on the outside are different from what the players hear on the inside. That doesn’t take away though that if Wenger started downplaying the team to the media while talking big game to the players themselves that it would send a conflicting message to them of having trust but not fully believing in them to achieve something and backing them to the outside world to do so.
It does certainly play a role, even if it’s something that is picked up during the season from journalists and brought towards the players in interviews or on other occasions.
1 Like
However players don’t have a collective mindset. They all think in their individual interest.
While Sanchez & Ozil are evidently disheartened, Lacazette & Kolasinac would be more enthusiastic. Per, Cazorla, Koscielny, Cech, Monreal are on last leg of their careers so depending on their personality some of them would like to give their all and some would tend to relax.
Ospina is perhaps encourage by his FA cup start and is looking forward to taking over Cech.
Holding & Iwobi perhaps want to do well & cement a position. Welbeck perhaps wants to make up for lost time.
Even if the team lacks motivation, individual motivation is still present. Receiving a dismissive message from the manager will collectively demoralise them.
Why take that risk to appease few fans?
If we can drop the wild speculation for a moment, I think at this juncture this thread is really telling us is the AW has got himself into a no win situation and now whatever he comes out with, he’ll invariably get roasted by large sections of the fan-base and media. If that alone isn’t a sign that his time is drawing to an end then I don’t know what is.
We can make all the excuses under the sun but as much as I never wanted to see things end like this for him, there’s been a glaring inevitably looming over his future (/demise) for the last few years which could only ever be avoided with drastic change; a shift in Wenger’s approach, of a shift in Wenger.
Perhaps we can blame the upper echelons of the club to a degree but Arsene’s had numerous chances to leave with a shred of dignity and passed on it every time; thinking he can pull us from the flames. If his hands were/ are truly tied, why would he put himself through that again and again?
I think that most fans now accept that he won’t ever change and that there’s a huge difference between ‘Wenger Land’ and reality. For me it’s difficult to imagine what he’d have to do to win back the level of support he once enjoyed (bar winning the league of course, but let’s face it, only he thinks we can realistically do that).
Please prove me wrong Arsene- I’ve been hoping and waiting for that for a good few years.
That’s how he gets you.
1 Like
The way we get battered on the regular has nothing to do with being Poverty FC. That’s way to easy of an excuse and way out for Wenger.
2 Likes
True but admitting it would make it open season
He wouldn’t pay over the going rate for any player if they “didn’t meet with his valuation.”
It’s true that Man U Chelsea and Man City have spent vast amounts of money but what’s the excuse for spurs, Liverpool and Leicester finishing above us?
Also, if it’s true that Wenger would have won a lot more trophies at a bigger club, then why didn’t he go there.
He is under almost no pressure here and he is in control of the way the club is run.
There isn’t another manager anywhere that has been under less pressure while achieving average results and that’s what he likes.
2 Likes
Remember that actions speak louder that words, so if you’re interested in aiming for the title I think it’s best to show that in the transfer window with ambition.
3 Likes
Thought the action required was getting results on the pitch…Performance in the market is completely subjective.
I certainly don’t think more money spent equals more ambition, that just short termism. In my book committing to a long term plan with the right manager in place is alot more a ambitious and much better for the club’s stability
Given the fact that every league title( bar one) won between 2005-2017 has been won by Man United, Chelsea & Man City I think it’s fair to say more money spent = more success…
2 Likes
It’s never been about that. It’s about actually addressing the identified holes in your squad and taking a chance on a solution rather than saying the one guy we want isn’t available so we’ll do nothing. Year after year there are bids for players in certain positions, a failure to sign them and then nothing.
That summer we only signed Cech I’m pretty sure wasn’t a summer where we only attempted to sign Cech. We bid for Gotze and got Ozil, we bid for Hazard and got Cazorla, but we supposedly bid for Xhaka, Lacazette, Draxler, Mbappe, Lemar, Bender and decided to sign nobody instead (could argue Laca stopped Mbappe I guess). Not even attempting to improve when you’ve identified a weakness is not ambitious.
5 Likes